1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a carrier apparatus for a vehicle, the carrier apparatus being disposed on a rear bumper side of the vehicle such that a bicycle or luggage can be loaded thereon.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to provide a system enabling one or more bicycles to be mounted on a vehicle in order to transport the bicycles.
However, since bicycles are typically bulky, it is difficult to load a bicycle in a trunk of the vehicle or a rear side of a cabin of the vehicle.
In order to overcome such problems, various attempts of loading a bicycle on the exterior of a vehicle have been proposed. However, with respect to attempts to fixedly load a bicycle on the roof panel of the vehicle, such loading operations have proved difficult. In addition, since the height of the vehicle likely is increased, when the vehicle enters a tunnel or a building, an accident in which the bicycle collides against the tunnel or the building may occur.
In attempting to load a bicycle on the rear end of the tail gate of a vehicle, a separate carrier apparatus must be attached to the tail gate, which is problematic. Since the carrier apparatus is exposed externally in ordinary times in which no bicycle is loaded thereon, the carrier apparatus degrades an aesthetic exterior appearance of a vehicle.
In addition, the use of a separate carrier apparatus lacks convenience, since the carrier apparatus must be manually attached to the vehicle when a bicycle is required to be loaded and is detached from the vehicle when the loading of a bicycle is not required.
In particular, when a bicycle is loaded on the exterior of the vehicle using the carrier apparatus, a vehicle trailing behind may not recognize the loaded bicycle. This may cause an accident in that the trailing vehicle approaches close to and may collide with the vehicle on which the bicycle is loaded.
The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of the background of the present invention, and is not intended to mean that the present invention falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art.